Best Setup for Population Trend Analysis

[bajkee02]

Hi all,

I’m running a large research project on a massive 6-max NL Hold’em database (~45 M hands, 2010–2025).
The goal is to measure population trends over time, not individual player results.
Examples of what I want to study:

Preflop trends

- Open-raise frequencies (RFI/PFR) by position (UTG, MP, CO, BTN, SB) across years.

- 3-bet and 4-bet frequencies (for example BB 3-bets vs BTN opens) and how these evolve over time.

- Correlations between PFR/VPIP ratios and long-term bb/100 for regulars.

Postflop trends

- Turn double-barrel frequencies and river bluff-to-value ratios.

I’d appreciate advice on how to set this up inside PT4:

Is it better to build custom My Reports for these population-level questions, or to work inside the Statistics section for cleaner grouping and aggregation?

What’s the recommended way to group results by player position and year on such a large database?

For specific matchup spots (e.g., “how much does BB 3-bet vs BTN RFI,” or SB vs CO), is there a built-in filter or custom-stat approach that makes this straightforward?

Are there other built-in population or aggregate tools that fit long-term, tendencies-over-time research?

Any tips or examples on structuring these queries efficiently inside PT4 would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! :D

[Flag_Hippo]

Is it better to build custom My Reports for these population-level questions, or to work inside the Statistics section for cleaner grouping and aggregation?

Population analysis will need to be done in 'My Reports'.

What’s the recommended way to group results by player position and year on such a large database?

Create an 'All Players' report, remove the 'Player' stat to combine player data and add the 'Position' stat:

Guide: Creating My Reports

You can filter for a specific year via 'More Filters -> Game Details -> Dates -> Specific Date -> Between x and y

Guide: Filters

For specific matchup spots (e.g., “how much does BB 3-bet vs BTN RFI,” or SB vs CO), is there a built-in filter or custom-stat approach that makes this straightforward?

There are a variety of built-in statistics you can use and custom statistics which can be downloaded from the Download Warehouse. For example there is a built-in statistic called '3Bet vs BTN Open'. If that statistic is added to a report that's already grouped by position you'll see the BB 3bet% vs a BTN open.

Any tips or examples on structuring these queries efficiently inside PT4 would be greatly appreciated.

If there isn't an existing statistic or filter for something you want then you can build you own custom statistics and/or custom filters. This guide covers the basics on custom statistics creation and this guide goes into more detail. While the latter was written for PokerTracker 3 and the user interface is different the techniques still apply to PokerTracker 4.